Inhibiting the motility and invasion of cancer cells by biomineralization

Many kinds of cancer are difficult to treat because of their highly metastatic abilities. Thus, seeking new anticancer drugs or therapy strategies, which could reduce the motility of cancer cells or inhibit the migration and invasion of the cells, is an urgent affair. Several recent reports suggest various techniques (such as layer-by-layer assembly and biomimetic mineralization) aimed to functionalize human cells and microbial with polyelectrolytes, nanoparticles, or mineral coatings. Inspired by these studies, an artificial mineral shell could be formed to enclose cancer cells under the regulation of SIBLINGs-like proteins. Consequently, the connection between the cancer cell and substrate would be interfered or inhibited. Therefore, the motility of cancer cells would be weakened or inhibited due to the restriction of the artificial mineral shell. This hypothetical strategy might be as a new concept for cancer therapy. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.